Not quite a week in country and we're already feeling fairly comfortable. Buenos Aires has welcomed us wholeheartedly and we're responding in kind! Luckily, we took the time to learn some Spanish before arriving. Without it, we would have been in mucho trouble.
Traveling with family always presents problems, and we've already tackled the subway system, the grocery store, and unfortunately, the hospital (but not for any big problem!), all in Spanish. This isn't as easy at it sounds since the Spanish here isn't the Spanish we learned in California!
We've been managing to make ourselves understood by the locals but it wasn't until yesterday, in a short but sweet lesson at a local immersion school, that we figured out our biggest problems. We knew the acento here is a little different and we had heard Argentines used a different word for 'you' instead of the typical 'tu' and 'ustedes.' But it wasn't until we sat down with a Porteña (native of Buenos Aires), that we really understood.
Simply put, our pronunciation is atrocious and our words are old fashioned... at least to Porteño ears.
If you speak Spanish, you should know that a double L is pronounced like the letter 'y.' Yo llamo is pronounced Yo yamo. Not here. It's pronounced like 'sh,' as are most other 'y' sounds - Sho shamo. Therefore, calle sounds like caishay and silla like sisha. Now you understand why people look at us funny. It's sort of like trying to understand a Brit with a Cockney accent when you're from Houston, Texas. Add the fact that we're not yet fluent in Spanish and you have trouble in the making.
And that is only problem number one. Number two - when we ask someone, "Do you have..." they don't understand immediately because we learned to use either the tú or Ud. form of 'you,' ¿Tienes tú...? or even ¿Tiene Ud.? When we used those words, a lot of locals just look at as funny and then, all of a sudden, they have this look on their face that says, Ah hah! I get it! Now we know how to say ¿Tenés vos...? and people understand us much better. Before, it was like we were asking "Dost thou have...?" They get it... but it just took time. We were sounding very quaint.
So we've added the shushing sound, the vos instead of tú, and we find out that we have one more problem. You know that simple 's' sound that we make? Hiss like a snake... that's the one. Do you notice how you push air out as you make it? That doesn't always work here. Porteños breathe in when pronouncing an 's' that comes before a consonant. It changes the word a lot. They don´t drop the 's' but it almost disappears, just not quite.
I think it will be a long time before any of us sound like real Porteños!
In the meantime, we're trying our best to fit in. We've figured out the Subte, the local subway system.
If you've lived or visited any major city, like Paris, Munich, New York, etc, then this isn't very different. Watch your bags, keep an eye open for interesting art, especially in the older stations, and enjoy the show.
Vendors are very popular - we've seen everything from socks to a hand held mechanical sewing machine for sale. The salesperson just plops an item on your lap and walks away while dropping more items on other laps. He makes his way around before the next stop to see if you want what he's just offered. We've also seen a couple of musicians - yesterday was a young band with electric bass, acoustic guitar, and drum with their own amp. They managed a decent set and offered their CD for sale as well. My favorite was the guy playing a pipe, a guitar while dancing so that his deer-toe wrapped legs provided the percussion. He reminded me of some Peruvians I've seen before but my husband thought he might have been from Uruguay. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to ask before he headed of to the next car in search of a new audience.
The most confusing thing about the Subte are the transfer stops. In most underground railroad systems, a transfer station shares the same name along all of the lines. Here, the name changes with each station. So the same stop is named 9 de Julio (green line), Diagonal Norte (blue line), and Pellegrini (red line... remember this is pronounced Peshegrini). We haven't tackled the bus system yet though I bought my Guia T today - that's the guide that explains the entire city bus system. I had to spend 6 pesos at the newspaper vendor to buy it and I need a little more time to dissect the system before I try to cross town with my kids. And that reminds me, public transportation is CHEAP. We spend a little more than a peso per ticket... that's about 30 cents.
After all that practice speaking Spanish, my true test came today. My oldest is having a little problem with a toe. Not bad enough for the emergency room but not healthy enough to keep trekking across the city without help. Because we're new and don't have a doctor, we were sent to the emergency room at our new local hospital - El Hospital Aleman or the German Hospital. I did ask to speak English but it became easier to just speak Spanish, so I did. With a little sign language and a lot of patience, I was able to communicate with registration clerks, nurses and doctors. Luckily, Rosetta Stone had taught me how to say le duele su dedo de pie and it didn't require any special pronunciation of double L's. The helpful staff at the Embassy had sent an authorization for pre-approval through our insurance company which certainly helped us survive the experience. The pharmacy was a breeze after that. Now, if I could only understand the numbers when they throw prices at me, I'll be doing okay.
Crossposted at A Military Wife's Perspective.